Saving Money

If you are like me, and have a scout, you have likely had a pile of patches collecting because they are a bit of a hassle to sew them on. They take time, patience and you have to have some knowledge with sewing. Fortunately if you know what you are doing with a sewing machine, you can actually whip through them pretty quickly! The most troublesome part will be getting out your sewing machine! Sound good?

You will need

Sewing machine

Thread

Patches to be sewn on

Pins

Sewing scissors

Begin by pinning your patches on. I think the reason the task is so daunting for me anyway, is that I want them to be straight and attached well so that they don’t fall off. Plus, my sewing skills are not great and if it is on something like that everyone can see my mistakes! Ok, now that you know that I stress about really silly things… on to the tutorial!

Once your patches are pinned on, and your machine is thread with the correct color of thread, put your scout shirt in your sewing machine. Make sure that you line up the patch as close to the edge as possible. The great thing about scout patches is that most of them seem to have a rim around the outside that if lined up right, your machine will sort of use as a guide. Be sure to hold your patch and straighten the fabric of the shirt as you go along to avoid any puckers.

Another bonus is how stiff they are. That helps keep them in place somewhat. The biggest hassle with sewing multiple patches on is having to change your thread repeatedly. If you are like me and procrastinated, be sure to sew all of your patches that are the same color on at the same time so you aren’t changing when it isn’t necessary.

Don’t forget when you are sewing, to begin and end by locking your stitches. That just means to go back and forth with your machine so that the thread doesn’t come out, that would be frustrating!

You want to stay as close to the edge as you can without going off. Be sure to sew slowly and hold your patch and shirt so that it is steady.

Once your patch is sewn on, you can trim your threads as close to the patch as possible so there isn’t a strand hanging.

A new patch that I just recently learned about (I have been serving in my son’s scout troop for a while) are called Segment patches. They are so fun! You start with a circle patch that may differ depending on your council. That is sewn on on the right side of the shirt under the pocket. Leave it up far enough to still allow the shirt to be tucked in.

Once you have your round patch, each month the boys that participate get a small segment patch that is sewn on in a circle around the new patch. You continue to sew those around each month and there are so many different segments for different things! Seasonal, pine wood derby, service projects. There are tons! Not only are they cute, but then the boys that maybe haven’t earned any awards ares still being acknowledged and getting something for participating in the program.

So, are you into scouting? Are segment patches something you do? I have never seen them and I am interested in how many troops are using them!

Thanks to Purposely Frugal for passing along this recipe for how to make baked potatoes in the crock pot (instead of the oven). We have a rule in our family that we never leave the house with the oven on… so I love this idea. Plus on a hot summer day the last thing you want is your oven on all day. Not an issue in winter ( heck most days I want to snuggle up to my oven just to stay warm…lol.)

Scrub and pat dry your potatoes

Poke a few holes in them with a fork.

Rub in oil (I used olive oil) and salt.

Wrap in aluminium foil and put in your crock pot. I cooked 6 potatoes on low for 7 hours, but you may need to vary the cooking time, based on the size and number of potatoes and your crock pot.

Enjoy with your favorite toppings!

No need to add water to the bottom but to keep the bottom ones from burning rotate them OR add some crumbled foil on the bottom before you add the potatoes.

The other day I sent Matt to the store to get some hamburger buns for dinner. When he came home he handed me the bag, I looked inside to find hot dog buns…. confused I thought for sure he must have bought them by mistake. When I questioned him he told me that yes he knew we were having hamburgers and he thought these would make great mini slider buns. Being that our kids are still little and never seem to eat a whole burger this is a brilliant idea! A simple idea to reduce food waste. Plus they were a perfect fit for their little hands. I was surprised to see how well they worked!

Now some of you girls like flowers, or cards… Me on the other hand I am all about saving money and keeping it simple. When my cute hubby came up with this simple money saving idea (all on his own) and then cooked dinner for the kids. Well lets just say he spoke my “ Love Language” some princes ride a white horse… mine makes money saving meals (LOL) Ain’t these just the cutest little burgers you have ever seen!

You can get 16 mini slider buns out of one standard bag of 8 count Hot Dog Buns. Normal cost for buns is $.89-$1.99 a bag… so that makes each little slider bun low as $.05 each!!!

You can use 3twice the value (double coupons) per family per shopping trip per transaction. Ask your local store how many transactions they will let you do…. each store will vary a bit on this issue.

They will double any coupon up to the value of $1.00 making that coupon twice its value. SO if you use a .75 cent coupon it will double up to $1.50 or if you use a $1.00 coupon it will double to $2.00.

They will not double a coupon for $1.01 or more.

You do have to pay sales tax on the full sales price of the item, before coupons.

You can NOT get overage from using a twice the value coupon, so if your item is $1.79 and you have a $1.00 MFR coupon they will only double it up to the $1.79 making the item free… but NOT allowing overage.

Albertsons will now allow you to use coupons that say Do Not Double with a twice the value coupon…..Great News!!!

One of the best ways to save money is to reduce food waste in your home. No reason to spend money on food that you toss in the trash because it went bad. I have talked about Piggy Back meals before, for creative ways to use the same ingredients for different meals. But what do you do when food is not as fresh as one would like, or been sitting to long. For example apples that have started to turn soft. I love to bite info a crisp juicy apple, but once they start to turn soft… I kind of turn into an apple snob and find myself selecting other fruit from the bowl.

Plus it does not help that my 1 year old son thinks anything “round” is a ball and loves to chuck my fruit across the kitchen… turning my apples brown and less than appetizing in a matter of seconds. So what is one to do…. gag down the apples, all in the name of saving money. Toss them in the trash when no one is looking? Well I have found these apples may not be good raw, but when baked are simply delicious!

I do not really follow a recipe, as each time I make them I tend to have different kinds or amounts of apples but here is the basic measurements.

4-6 apples (peeled, cored and diced)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/8 of a teaspoon lemon zest

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons corn starch

1/2 cup brown sugar

Place in a covered oven save dish, bake at 350 for 30-50 minutes till apples are soft but still have a little bit of crunch. Serve warm, we like them with ice cream on top. This is also great in crepes.